Month: March 2015

  • The Bigger they are, the Harder they Fall

    It took 10 years to find the right company to fell a tree that was between our home, and that of our neighbors.

    Why so long?

    Cost.

    We sought over 13 quotes to get all of our trees trimmed, and to take care of a very large willow oak.

    Who did we end up going with?   Our 14th quote - Atlantic Arbor.

    It's a small company with a small team of dedicated guys who took their time taking down each limb piece by piece... for three days.

    Here is the final epic cut....

    https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=952429304770165

    Now that the tree is gone, a new fence is up - and I've been cleaning up the yard ever since.
    (we also got a lot of firewood out of this deal)

    Ok... back to work... (house work/ yard work... and online work)

     

  • SonRise Music Festival

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    This past week I was asked to head up the social media side of the SonRise Music Festival.

    The official 'title' provided to this volunteer opportunity is Social Media Director.

    The SonRise Music Festival is a 3 day praise and worship session that includes top Christian Music artists and ministries that come together on the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach, VA.  The heart of this organization is to address homelessness.

    It's an annual event, and this year it's dates are scheduled for June 12th, 13th and 14th.

    Last years event included such artists as "Switchfoot", "Sonicflood" and "Francesca Battistelli" amongst several others.
    I'm looking forward to sharing this years line up - but first I've been focusing on updating all of their social media outlets and doing the usual prep work for what's coming down the line.

    An event like this is actually an answer to prayer, in that I needed some experience like this to learn more about putting on an event.

    So, if you have an interest in this project - and are on some social media outlets - here are the links:

    Main Website: http://www.sonrisemusicfestival.com/
    Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sonrisemusicfestival
    Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sonrisefestival
    Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sonrisefest
    Stay tuned, as ticket sales will be announced soon (with early bird specials)... along with who's performing, etc...

    Until later....back to the grind...(with more Xanga and Autisable updates)

  • Jimmy Moore - Livin' La Vida Low Carb

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    Ok, what in the world am I doing talking about this guy?

    Well, let me do a bit of an introduction, first.

    I worked with Jimmy back in the mid-late 90's.   Jimmy, at the time, was a big dude.   Let's just say that when I say I'm a big guy at 6'4" and 343 lbs... Jimmy was even bigger.
    (here's a link to his site that shares his story more:  http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/about-2 )

    Back in the 90's I was in a lot better shape, around 260 lbs and very fit.   That's what happens when one gets older and also sits on his but for about a decade doing desk work... but I digress.  (and Yes, I'm working on my lifestyle changes)

    But Jimmy had his own share of challenges, and his wife was one of my co-workers/employees at the warehouse where I worked.

    One of the nicest couple's that I know, Jimmy and Christine are always a joy to be around.   Then they moved away from Virginia and began a different journey.

    I caught up with Jimmy awhile back, and he lost a LOT of weight.  About 180 lbs.   He's actually smaller than me!!!  (ugh... talk about some competitive motivation)
    This past week he asked me to help him out with some social media tweaking, to help him streamline some things.

    He did have two facebook pages, and some cross-promotional apps needed to be applied to his facebook page.
    So, I'm helping him out a little.

    Merged both his facebook pages, added some apps, and I am helping to get him up to speed on some social media/website stuff.    Hey, it's what I do. :)

    But, Jimmy is very active online - and interactive with his audience and the people who like what he's shared about eating healthy.   He's written several books, gone on many speaking engagements, been on TV - and practices what he preaches - cause its worked for him!

    So, here's his tweaked Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/livinlowcarbman

    Nice to be able to help out a good friend.   And for those interested in what he's sharing - check out his website as well: http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/

    I'm glad I have the opportunity to help him out... and to share his story.

    Until later... back to the grind....

  • Getting Back to Routine

    As an Autism Parent, routine is one major issue that is a must to maintain.

    Whenever anything changes routine, the challenges associated with that change can include potential destruction.

    After two weeks of schedule changes with Short Stacks school being closed due to 'snow days' - today was the first day in getting back into routines.
    That, along with the weather changes and his 12 year molars coming in... it's been a rather fun-filled couple of weeks.

    Let's just say that I'm going to be getting some serious dry-wall technique practice in over the next few weeks.   (OH JOY!)

    I have, however, been able to start the first of several expected rewrites to my book about being an Autism Dad.     So that's some good news.
    In other good news, I was asked to be the Social Media Director for a non-profit called SonRise Music Festival.   It's a local ministry that brings in top christian musicians/bands for several days of performing at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.  I'll share more about that project soon enough.  Although helping SonRise is a volunteer gig, it's a good cause.

    This past weekend I was also able to actually get paid in helping a friend get his social media back on track. (More an that down the road as well).

    Autisable is making serious progress, mostly in the series we are developing for The Autism Channel.  We have almost all the initial content available for the first 3 episodes, so it's now time to set up a meeting with the studio to get things moving along.

    Now, Coolmonkey and Soullfire shared a lot of direct questions that needed to be answered by John at Xanga.  I expressed to John that if we got those questions addressed/answered, then many in the community would be very grateful.    I also shared with him some of the other questions that we need to really take care of  as well.  In short, that we need to get back to a routine of making serious progress on the site.  John completely agreed....

    As of late last week, he shared with me that he's "Been getting a ton done lately"... and he's "trying to get an update for us that's more substantive, as requested."

    I did dump a lot more on him than just what Soullfire and Coolmonkey have been bringing up - but expressed that their issues with what has been going on needed to be answered.

    Rest assured that my goal as community liaison is to build a bridge of communication on both sides.   I'm a conduit of information from the team to the community... and from the community to the team.

    I've heard many positive things about what is going on.... and of course the worst of the worst.

    That being said, Xanga is still moving forward.

    I was also asked in previous posts/comments to provide some how to's on working with Xanga.   I am trying to get back into a routine, but will see if I can find some wordpress related videos and links to share to get people started.   Since we are, after all, powered by wordpress - much of how to manage Xanga will be very similar for the time being.

    For things that are Xanga specific, I'll see about doing some basic how to's to get folks started.   As things are apt to change, I wouldn't want to focus on too many how to posts as that might cause confusion down the road.

    So, in terms of immediate need on 'how to do something with Xanga 2.0'.... what would be your top two priorities?

    Until later... back to getting things into routine. :)